Chapter 1,108 Attack on Trier Valley of Rain and Dawn

What does Trier mean? What does it mean to attack it?

What is the manifestation of Ludwig's anger? If there is one, Attack on Trier is one.

Attacking Trier would be a very serious sacrilege, but destroying the place was indeed a way to weaken Lothair. Of course, the troops of the Eastern Kingdom cannot be sent to handle such "dark work", and even the saboteurs sent out cannot legally have anything to do with the Eastern Kingdom.

In order to wreak havoc in Trier, the Eastern Kingdom could still stand by pretending to be calm, and it was most appropriate to ask the Normans to do such a thing.

Because Trier, although it is not a county, it is better than a county.

That's an area controlled by priests!

As early as Charlemagne's lifetime, the Archbishop of Trier provided important supplies to the Frankish army in the eastern expedition against the Avars invaders. Frank defeated the Avars, and Trier was commended during the postwar ceremony.

Charlemagne was crowned "Emperor of the Romans", and many nobles received awards in such a prosperous period.

If the Diocese of Trier is not a noble, it has been upgraded to a bishopric, which is already the same level as Reims, Cologne, Worms (Mainz), and the North.

Charlemagne rests in peace, his successor Louis the Pious living up to his nickname. During his tenure, the Diocese of Trier was granted legal immunity. The so-called common Frankish laws did not apply to this area, and Trier could establish a "kingdom of heaven on earth" here.

The priests did not establish a country, but the Roman palaces and royal estates within the jurisdiction of the Trier diocese became the property of the priests, and villages large and small had to pay various taxes to the priests.

The Diocese of Trier received absolute security and protection promised by Louis the Pious, and as a result, the diocese was able to quietly worship God and develop its agricultural economy for a long time.

However, the civil war inevitably broke out.

Lothair was indeed the first heir of Louis the Pious in law. He recognized all the privileges granted to the Bishopric of Trier by his father and grandfather. The other party also naturally recognized Lothair as the king of the Franks and continued to hold the title of "Emperor of Rome". "title.

Civil war had broken out in 838. Although Louis, who had been under house arrest by his sons, was released, his royal power fell away, and his sons immediately began to conflict. Over the past few years, the situation around Trier has become increasingly tense, and it seems difficult to remain alone peacefully. Only then did the Archbishop accept King Lothair's request to garrison troops.

There is a need to be particular about how to garrison troops. The army cannot be stationed in remote areas and must be able to defend the city when necessary. The army cannot be stationed in sacred places and must be far away from the churches in the city. They cannot overstep their bounds, after all, they are only soldiers.

This Roman city was founded in the Octavian era. It has experienced prosperity, destruction, and restoration over hundreds of years, and a large number of Roman ruins are still visible. Emperor Constantine the Great built a magnificent palace here, but only its foundations were destroyed in a series of wars caused by the collapse of Rome and the great migration of nations.

Charlemagne once again rebuilt the Roman palace as his palace. The palace still exists today. Legally, it is the private property of the family of his successor Lothair. Charlemagne also rebuilt the cathedral. The building materials were all stone. The strongest church in the region became the bishop's seat.

The garrison had a very legitimate reason - to protect King Lothair's palace in Trier.

Lothar's standing army has a lot of troops. If it is deployed more, there will be too few troops that can be sent to the front line of the civil war. He stationed a standard corps at Trier and a corps at Koblenz.

A full infantry flag force should have 800 people, and these two garrisoned flag teams are seriously short of strength. Four hundred people were stationed in Trier, nominally to protect the palace of the king's private property, but in fact they were to protect the priests and the city of Trier.

What this garrison can do is only to ensure the safety of the city of Trier.

The Moselle River connects Metz and Trier, and the waterway is directly connected to the Rhine River. Trier is geographically far away from the Saarland-Rhineland region, the peak of the Civil War, and even Strasbourg.

An unexplored mountainous area stretches across and an impenetrable barrier of virgin forest protects Trier's east. Across the mountains, the terrible Battle of Lauten had only recently occurred.

The locals still live a peaceful life, the priests do not move around unless they have nothing to do, and the farmers in each village only live within a day's journey. Even the lives of farmers were severely restricted. They were not allowed to hunt in the woods, because the mountains, forests, birds and animals were the private property given to the church by the king. They were not even allowed to fish in the Mosel, because the catch was also the private property of the church.

The peasants' life was determined to die in their own villages. After being authorized, the Bishop of Trier governed according to his own beliefs. Frank's secular life was slowly dissolving, and it was slowly becoming a "theocratic country".

Farmers farm and raise some livestock on weekdays, with little entertainment, but must diligently participate in various activities in the monastery. They were forced to become ascetics, and the church's ever-accumulating wealth was gradually turning into exquisite gold and silver instruments. Strangely enough, the priests did not eat themselves into fat men one after another. The archbishop's name was Hutto, and this elderly bishop was still skinny.

He amassed wealth without knowing how to enjoy it, and he relied entirely on the king's military protection.

The cathedral in Trier was a source of military expenditure for King Lothair. He could get critical cash from here to pay the army by promising and granting more privileges.

How could Ludwig, who was on the other side of the Civil War, not know? He also needs money.

It's just that for this series of inside stories, the "Fox Brothers" who have sharpened their axes do not provide detailed inside information.

Fred, who surrendered, said: "No one will think that you Normans will be merciful. You are here to rob and kill. I have boarded your ship, which is tantamount to selling my soul to the devil. Since I have done evil, Then go to hell! Go and plunder the church of Trier, there is a lot of gold and silver in it.”

"Is this true? How much gold and silver is there in the local area?" Blue Fox originally planned to empty the local granaries, so he gathered all the vacant longships. Hearing that there was a large amount of real gold and silver, he was very greedy.

"Seriously. There may be a thousand pounds of silver coins or more, and there are many gold and silver holy objects."

It seems that there are so many treasures, even if the journey is a bit far away, overwork is necessary in order to make a fortune.

There is another big problem facing the Blue Fox. He is running out of cash reserves. Either transport cash or supplies from the Ross direction, or rob the neighbors.

Fred, a Frank, betrayed Lothair and became loyal to Ludwig. He was defeated and surrendered, and he helped the Normans attack Trier by surrendering.

"This is blasphemy. However, King Ludwig made an agreement with the Normans, and God did not punish him. I am his subordinate, and if I act with the Normans, I will not be punished by God. Yes. ! After this job, he might just make me a baron."

Fred did some mental games on his own, and then, a brand new man appeared.

This man's hair was deliberately tied into many braids, and his face was painted with some lines in indigo. Especially, he was wearing a Russian robe.

When it comes to acting, you have to do everything right. Fred intends to regret it later. In this operation, he participated as a Norman.

Siluke

Putting on the costume of Ross's army was just a simple act. His real act of cooperation was to reveal the specific information about the Trier garrison to Blue Fox.

The city has stone walls, the gate is a heavy wooden door that opens on both sides, and there are no defensive measures such as lifting iron fences and trench suspension bridges. The flag captain of the garrison was named Bruno, and he had more than 400 men. The city of Trier itself was not fortified, but it was fortified when there was a garrison. The priests did not raise any guards. As long as the defenders' standard troops were defeated, the city of Trier would be a sheep to be slaughtered...

Therefore, two large pine trees were cut down, the excess branches and all the bark were peeled off, and the trunks were thrown into the water, with the plan to drag them while rowing, and then carry them ashore at the destination and use them immediately as a battering ram.

The Norman army, painted with indigo on their faces, assembled at the mouth of the Moselle River in Coblenz. The Blue Fox and the Black Fox took almost all the combatants to participate in the operation, and even assembled as many as thirty longships, leaving only two Boat in Nassau Village.

Each soldier carries enough dry food - fried flatbread.

However, the wheat varieties widely grown in Western Europe in this era have higher wheat bran and will dehydrate more quickly after cooking. Nordic wheat cakes made by grinding them into powder and mixing them with oat flour can be baked very large and can be as hard as dry food. wood chips. Its disadvantage is that it is hard, but its advantage is that it can be stored for a long time.

The smart warrior smashed the dry flatbread into pieces with a hand axe, and then put it into a linen bag so that it could be enjoyed at any time in the form of hard biscuits.

This is the main dry food, as well as a large number of pickled and dried herrings brought by Black Fox, as well as local cheese products, butter and mutton jerky from Nassau Village.

Even some preliminary, low-alcohol sweet wines in wooden barrels. Newly harvested onions and bisporus are also included, but they have become a condiment.

Fred had not expected so many tricks in logistics. As for food, when he was stationed at the Koblenz Fortress, he lived on oatmeal every day, and he had to save salt.

What happened to this group of Normans named Ross? The food they had while marching was too rich.

Because he participated in "evil deeds" as a Norman, Fred received a very good meal. The Normans he had heard about in the past were a group of pirates who killed without blinking an eye. Those statements were obviously correct, but they obviously ignored the fact that the food of these guys was very good.

Fred joined the group, and like the Normans, they sailed a huge oar up the Moselle River.

He cannot rest and must keep pace with everyone else. It was novel at first, but then it became uncomfortable.

The arms of these Normans seemed to have infinite power, and they could paddle endlessly. After setting off early in the morning from the assembly area in Koblenz and resting on the shore in the evening, our tired arms could finally relax. The army lit a fire on the shore and ate their own dry food. The butter cubes are dipped in salt, and then accompanied by dry and hard biscuits and chews. It tastes good and can quickly restore physical strength.

Fred saw that some guys were eating raw onions and others were grilling mushrooms. The Moselle River is not wide enough and the river bed is shallow. There are long boats anchored on the river, lighting torches and fishing for fish. It wasn't until someone came ashore happily with a freshly caught bass that Fred realized the strange fishing skills of these guys.

The Rus are indeed an alternative among the Normans. A series of marching rules created by King Rurik of Rus have been proven effective in previous wars.

This night the soldiers' bodies were fully rested and a large amount of high-calorie food was eaten in their stomachs, which is very important now that autumn is getting stronger.

The next day, even Fred had regained his strength. He knew that today would still be endless rowing, and he would be able to endure it.

But as long as you continue to move forward, you will eventually encounter a village belonging to Trier.

He had to ask Blue Fox: "What are you going to do if a village appears on the riverside?"

"What else can we do? Of course it's robbery."

Blue Fox spoke lightly, and to Fred it sounded like they took killing very lightly.

"Robbery? Means killing those innocent villagers?"

"Oh. Those farmers are indeed innocent, so what? We are all the purest Normans now. At least I can be kind in the end."

Blue Fox is a pure Norman but not a warrior. Fred just doesn't understand that Normans also have multiple layers. For example, those who are businessmen know how to adapt and keep a line.

They sailed for three days, and no one could tell how long they sailed. During the dry season, the Moselle River was very slow, but it rained lightly.

The pattering light rain did not stop the army from continuing to move, so people endured being wet and continued rowing.

A strange scene appears on the river! It was a long boat with two pointed ends arranged in a formation of long snakes. A group of strong blond men who felt uncomfortable wearing wet clothes rowed hard with their shirts off. Many of them had strange patterns on their bodies and wore strange pendants of gods. Among them was There is no shortage of crosses. Everyone who was paddling hard had strong internal heat, and they were emitting heat collectively, like a group of ghosts coming out of hell in the fog and rain.

The first innocent village suddenly appeared. It existed at a big bend in the river. On one side of the bend was a flat farming area. The village was here, and on the other side was a rocky cliff that looked steep.

"What's the name of this place?" Blue Fox asked Fred.

"Traben, also called Dawn Valley."

"Okay. This place is ours."

Blue Fox didn't even think about ordering a pause in paddling.

"Haha! Brothers, we have a place to stay tonight. Capture this village and we will spend the night in a dry place."

Legally speaking, the area where the village of Traben is located is not under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Trier. The area was awarded to the Archbishop of Aachen by Louis the Pious ten years ago and became its enclave. The one Blue Fox ordered to attack was not Trier. This was of course no problem. In the final analysis, it was also a force attacking the Kingdom of China.

Traben's true appearance is vaguely visible in the fog and rain. Is this really a village? When the longships docked one after another, the Ross army, which landed with weapons, launched an attack in the mud. The fog and rain could not hide its outline, and what appeared in front of Blue Fox looked more like an undefended town.

They originally planned to rob a village to find a dry place to stay, but they didn't expect anything extravagant. Now that they saw that there were some two-story buildings here that were probably larger, they thought that there should be a lot of treasures in this place.

Then comes the attack.

The Rus' army effortlessly captured the entire town. Those who tried to resist in panic were killed. The barbaric warriors had sex with the women of the village on the spot.

In the monasteries in villages and towns, the priests were directly appointed by the Archbishop of Aachen, but they were still killed neatly.

After all, this town has a large population, and a large number of residents realized that there were gangsters doing evil. Although they thought it was outrageous, they took the time to break open the door and escape to the hilly forest to the west. The Russian army, which was busy looting, was too lazy to pursue the fugitives.

Those who did not escape were in dire straits. More than thirty women were captured, and these were all the prisoners. They were still alive only because they were women.

The villages and towns were littered with corpses. Although the victory was very easy, the faces of the soldiers were also filled with the joy of victory.

But this was not the victory that the blue fox longed for. Although the accompanying black fox wanted to prove that he was a real man in the river of blood, he actually covered his face involuntarily when he saw this cruel scene.

Fred was shocked. He neither blamed nor praised, everything was dull, "Oh my God! I brought them here!" He finally started to blame himself and knelt down directly in the fog and rain...

As many as two hundred people were killed, and the captured woman was severely traumatized. The monastery was sacked and the priests killed.

The captured women were assembled under the order of Blue Fox. When they saw them wrapped in sheets, their eyes widened and their whole bodies trembling uncontrollably, they could understand with their toes what had happened before.

They were temporarily placed in a barn, and Blue Fox had to order the men who were watching eagerly: "Don't do anything bad. You have also vented, and that's it for now. We will spend the night here and take away some of the things we need." Things leave. Tomorrow morning, these prisoners will be released on the spot."

His order caused great shock. Some people suggested that they could be taken away according to the old rules. Blue Fox felt that this was a waste of time and unnecessary.

After all, the blue fox has a noble status, and the black fox is willing to listen to his brother's words. The two noble men ordered this, and the brothers had no choice but to admit it angrily, and claimed that they could grab a rich man in Trier.

However, the rain continued for another day, and the prisoners who were imprisoned in the barn ate nothing. It was not until the third day of the Russians' arrival, when they were about to leave, that the closed barn was broken open.

The captured people hugged each other and screamed, some even fainted from hunger and fright. The axe-wielding warrior did not stop and walked away carrying the ax.

The Russians came like ghosts and left in a hurry. They left behind a large number of corpses and left with the limited gold and silverware they looted from the monastery, as well as some food.

Blue Fox did not set a fire here, and he was not merciful. It was just because the fog and rain had just stopped, and the wet town did not have the conditions for arson. He had no regrets. Anyway, he would still have to pass through the "Dawn Valley" when returning to Trier with the loot, and it wouldn't be too late to take away the supplies he didn't grab this time.